Search - Anastacia :: Pieces of a Dream: Best of

Pickin' Up The "Pieces"

A. Bennett | New Hampsha | 12/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Foreign to most Americans (although known for her breat cancer triumph), Anastacia is a SUPERSTAR across the pond and into the mountains. Amassing herself a sizable catalog of hits, 2005 is the time for a required collected works to hit distant shores. And the result? Pretty darn good.



Opening with the soaring "I'm Outta Love", the tracks the precede in the order they were released. Most the material off the "Not that Kind" and "Freak Of Nature" is typical girl with big voice material. The outstanding expections are the unreal "One Day In Your Life", "Cowboy's And Kisses", and "You'll Never Stand Alone" (presented here in it's richer, more complex US release reworked mix).



Beginning with "Left Outside Alone" and straight through the closing notes of the album we are given some truly great, amazing, and inspired music. "Anastacia" (the album) finally has Ms. Stacia rockin her true voice. It's a true shame that album has failed to surface domestically. Given the climate of girl rock and heavy lyrics the album could finally give Anastacia some major hits on US charts. And what about these new songs? "In Your Eyes" is a competent rock ballad, but hold on to your seats for the collection's true gem, "Pieces Of A Dream". A deep, rich, and challenging ballad that fits Anastacia's voice and latest sounds perfectly. Almost sounding like a throw away from "Anastacia", this song is no one's sloppy seconds. The one off track? The duet with Eros. He definatley has a market, but this track should have been left off.



Sadly some really amazing tracks were not released as singles; "Overdue Goodbye", "How Come The World Won't Stop", "Time", "Rearview, and the beautiful b-sided "Underground Army" far surpass some of the tunes selected for radio and release. But ulitmately this is a singles release and present the artist's best known tracks.



The "special edition" comes with a bonus remix disc featuring a collection of dance mixes. It's truly genuis idea that is a welcome choice from the ever popular additional DVD that is popping up everywhere. Most of the tracks have had releases elsewhere, but for US fans it's a great chance to get them all in one spot without have to search. Some tunes are repeated and having rarities (b-sides and rare mixes) would have made this disc truly amazing.



The packaging also deserves a nod. The designers really rocked out and made this release memorable. The CD's are house inside the inner sleeves or a little hardcover book (the album cover is still intact and looks breathtaking). The pages of the book feature the photos apparently taken for the since cancelled US release of "Anastacia" and re-shot "Left Outside Alone" video. The full lyrics and credits are included on the high glass, glossy stock paper. The CD's are a bit hard to get out of the sleeve and can become scratched easily if not handled with a little TLC. So be careful with this one!!



The final product is a great one. Anastacia is an amazing singer/songwriter with a great collection of hits to draw from. In the season of "best of/greatest hits" collections this one is stand out above the rest."

Pieces of a Dream - A nicely assembled package!

Nick Urbino | Palm Springs, CA USA | 06/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Love it! Anastacia's Greatest Hits. This release that I purchased was the import. Please note: The U.S. Domestic release does NOT include the Dance Remix Bonus CD. In my opinion--the best part of this album. Not that I don't love all the rest of Anastacia's tracks...but alas, I already own almost all of the other great songs in this collection---previously released. Most artists do this when releasing a retrospective---with a few new releases as incentive for Die-hard fans to purchase an album containing mostly songs they already have. With that said---If you dig Anastacia, get this import CD set. It comes packaged in a very slick little picture book (hardcover) with 2 CD's fitting neatly inside the front and back covers. Be careful handling the CD's as they tend to be more prone to surface scratches in packaging like this. The Domestic release of "Pieces of a Dream" include a dance mega-mix of Ana's more popular hits. The bonus CD contained in this import version have DJ remixes of "One Day in Your Life", "I'm Outta Love", "Paid My Dues", "Boom", "Sick & Tired" and others (albeit more remix radio edits than I would've liked!). The remix disc has 14 tracks altogether. Some are different versions of the same song---but still really cool! Disc 1 has 17 tracks. "Everything Burns", "You'll Never Be Alone", "Not That Kind" and "Left Outside Alone" being some of my fave tracks. If you only have her "Freak of Nature" album--you'll get quite a few tracks that were only available previously as import releases. My partner & I saw her live here in Palm Springs,CA---she is an amazing talent with an enormous voice, striking beauty and killer style! Being a huge inspiration to both of us, we had to seek out and obtain all of her albums. Do yourself 2 favors: 1-Buy this CD set. 2-Do a search on Google for Anastacia Lyn Newkirk---you'll find out alot about one amazing little lady!!!"

Pieces of a Dream

socalledboothy | 01/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just got this today from UK Amazon (cheaper than on here) and I was stunned that it came in a "book"-like package. The package is amazing and beautiful with the lyrics inside on the pages. The CDs are in sleeves in the front and back of the package.



But what really counts is the tracks and amazing remixes on the remix CD. By the way, the description on here is wrong for the special edition. There is no DVD included in the packaging: just Disc 1 (with all her hits and 4 new songs and a megamix) and the remix disc. There will be a DVD being released of her Live at Last tour in March, so look for that.



All of her singles are here (except for Boom and Love is a Crime, though they are on the remix disc) as well as 4 new songs. The title track and new single, Pieces of a Dream, which is amazing and a pure Anastacia rock ballad. There's also I Belong to You, with Italian singer Eros, another ballad and In Your Eyes (ballad) as well as her contribution to the Fantastic 4 soundtrack with Ben Moody, Everything Burns. The club megamix is a almost-12 minute dance tour de force, including her biggest hits, totally remixed. It is amazing.



The remix disc is really good too, including some rare remixes of her biggest hits as well as to Love is a Crime and Boom. It's an amazing addition to have to this greatest hits set.



It really sucks that she isn't more known in the US. Most of my friends don't know who she is. I hope that whenever she releases her fourth studio album, she works harder to try and break the US. I really hope she can get successful here in the US.



So buy this awesome greatest hits package! You won't regret it."